It is well known in the art to provide a feeder for animals such as horses and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,744 issued to H. Carr on Nov. 5, 1974 provides for a feeder with a relatively complex mechanism for opening the doors one by one and ensuring that the system closes all doors when the lid is opened. Moreover, the constriction of the hopper could potentially block or choke the delivery of feed to the animal(s) with perturbing circumstances. Finally, the lid being positioned above the feeder significantly hampers the delivery of heavy bags of pellets, for example, which must be lifted above the feeder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,169 issued to B. Jenson et al. on May 4, 1999 shows hayracks which, if strong enough not to be damaged by the animal, provide for a more complicated and probably heavier feeder to build. In addition, a hazard will always exists on this design with an automatic opening of one of the doors while an animal is eating, potentially hurting the nose or nostrils of the animal.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved universal automated feeding apparatus.